Quick-clamping vise



July 13, 1948. A, M, sAsGl-:N 2,445,183

QUICK- CLAMPING VI SE Filed July 9, 1945 2 sheets-sheet 1 @mae 405 July 13, 1948. A M SASGEN 2,445,188

QUIGK-CLAMPING VISE A Filed July 9, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 .grs

Patented July 13, 1948 QUICK-CLAMPING VISE Anthony M. Sasgen, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Grand Specialties Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application ,luly 9, 1945, Serial No. 603,979

A4 Claims. (Cl. 81-36) This invention relates to improvements in vises and more particularly to screw-actuated vises having relatively movable work-engaging elements between which work may be clamped.

Vises of the aforesaid character usually include movable and stationary clamping elements and a screw member which is threaded into a tapped opening in the stationary member and to which the movable element is connected so that when the screw member is rotated in the tapped opening, the movable element is actuated and shifted relative to the stationary element. Likewiseone or more guides are sometimes fastened in the movable element and are freely passed through suitable guide openings in the stationary element so as to thereby insure that clamping jaws provided on the two elements are maintained in predetermined relation one with the other. Heretofore, rotation of the screw member hasL been the usual means of changing the position of the movable element with respect to that of the stationary member and hence much effort and time was consumed in this preliminary operation especially when changing to and from work varying diameters or thicknesses.

It is therefore an important object of my invention to afford a screw-actuated vise which will have all the advantages of a conventional screw actuated vise for adjusting and clamping the object upon which work is .to be performed, and which in addition, will be capable of rapid manipulation to an approximate adjustment or gripping engagement. An object ancillary to the foregoing is to construct the movable jaw with a pivoted nut for cooperatively engaging the screw member for applying clamping forces but which has but a one-way force transmitting action in respect to the screw member so that during the initial or approximate adjustment of the jaws, the nut pivots automatically out of such cooperative engagement to enable swift adjustment.

Another object of the inventionis to afford a screw-actuated vise in which a screw member having a movable jaw operatively associated is instantaneously and manually releasable from screw-operative engagement with a fix-ed or stationary jaw, and upon such manual release, the movable jaw will be automatically moved to an open position. Objects ancillary to the foregoing are to construct such a vise with a pivoted nut, springbiased to a normal screw-engaging position, but shaped to provide a conveniently accessible trigger portion for manualdisengagement of its threads from those of the screw and to coil a spring between the jaws and around one or both of the guide members that support the movable jaw. rhus, release of the screw enables the coiled spring to automatically shift the jaw away from the stationary jaw or to its open position.

For the most part, the vises heretofore known are rather cumbersome and difficult to manipulate, requiring the use by the operator of at least one hand to manipulate the movable jaw to an approximate gripping engagement. In some cases, due to the nature of the work to be held or the conditions under which the work is being performed, it is often difficult, if not impossible, for a workman to have a hand free to manipulate the vise and, as a result, where the old vises have been used, it has been difficult to effectively use such vises. Therefore, it is a further object of my invention to afford a screwactuated vise in which one of the jaws is normally movable and operable by relative rotation of a cooperating screw and nut, but which may be moved from an open position to an. approximately closed gripping position by direct pushing movement against the screw or movable jaw, such pushing movement being optionally imparted to the vise by the body of therworkman leaving his hands free to hold the work. An object ancillary to the foregoing is to so arrange the cooperation of the threads of the spring-biased pivoted nut with those of the screw members, that the above mentioned pushing movement automatically disengages said nut and causes the threads of the screw to clickrover the threads on the pivoted nut into an approximately gripping or initial position for engaging the work object. Still another object is to aord a screw actuated vise with novel manually operated means for instantaneously releasing .the vise from a fully gripping position, said lmeans readily accessible to the workman and designed to l require a minimum of effort and time to operate.

Yet a further object is to afford a screw-actuated vise capable of quick manipulation to an approximate gripping position and also of instantaneous releasefrom a fully gripping position having such features incorporated in but a single mechanism which results in materially increasing the durability of the vise. v i

Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and claims and are illustrated inthe accompanying drawings which, by way of illustration, show lpreferred embodiments and the principle thereof and what I now consider to be .a4/rales the best modes in which I have contemplated applying this principle. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same or equivalent principle may be `used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a screw-aotuated vise embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional View substantially along line 2-2 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 3 is a sectional detail view taken substanun tially along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

The vise illustrated in the accompanying drawings includes a base ill having a mounting structure I l extending downwardly from its lower face l 2 and also has a centrally located upwardly7 extending stationary element i3, and desirably the body portion ill of the stationary element it, the base it and the clamping structure ll are cast as a unitary part.

The mounting structure il has a downwardly extending portion l5 with a smooth inner face I5 adapted to be placed in close juxtaposition to the edge i1 oi a suitable bench or support as i8. The bottom portion iii of the arm il is formed at substantially right angles to the vertically extending portion le and terminates in an internally threaded guide sleeve 2li disposed be* heath the base l5. A clamping screw 2l is thread 'l ed through the sleeve 2S and has a cylindrical head 22 at its lower end provided with a slid able4 transverse handle bar 23 of conventional construction, and at its upper end the screw 2i has a clamping head 2/2 which, coacting with lower face 25 of the base le and inner face le of clamping arm il, adjustably and securely clamps the vise to a suitable bench or support such as i8.

The stationary body or element I3 is provided with a rigid clamping jaw 25 o-n a vertically exn tending forward wall 21 of body portion lli and a clearance space or recess 28 is formed in the body I3 rearwardly of the wall 21 to aiord clear-- ance for operative parts of the vise as will hereinafter appear.

Spaced vapart parallel openings 29 and Sii are provided in horizontal locations in the wall 21 so as to extend from front to rear through such wall and into the clearance space 23, and guide rods 3| and 32 are respectively slidably extended through these openings and into the clearance recess 28, The forward ends of the guide rods 3l and 32 are anchored in blind recesses 33 and 34 extending forwardly into the rear face of a body 35 of a movable yelement 31 of the vise, whereby the movable element 35 is supported for movement toward and away from the stationary element I3, and the movable element 31 has a jaw 35 formed at its upper end that is adapted to cooperate with the jaw 25 to retain work such as a workpiece W in the vise.

A guide bore or opening 38 extending into the recess 28 is fo-rmed in the wall 21 between and in parallel relation with respect to the guide openings 29 and 35, and a screw threaded portion 39 of a screw element 4B is slidably extended therethrough. The screw threads 39 are of the V-shaped type for purposes that will appear herem inafter. The forwardly projecting stem portion 4I o'f the screw element 40 is extended rotatably through movable element 31 and is secured to tubular retaining member 42 with a transversely slidable handle bar i3 or operating member passed therethrough at ill in any suitable manner, as for example, in the manner disclosed in my copending application, Serial No. 545,334,1iled July 17, 1944. The member 42 and a, shoulder 652A hold the screw element 4B against axial displacement With respect to the element 31.

The stationary element or body i3 also has a novel pivoted nut l5 mounted thereon for operative engagement with the screw element 45. Such a mounting is afforded by a pair of hori- Zontal mounting lugs i5 and 41 protruding outwardly from a side wall i8 of the body ld. The lugs extend along the upper and lower edges of a horizontal slot le formed in a side wall 58 and extending in a plane parallel to the axis of the screw element fill rearwardly from a front edge of the body for a substantial distance as shown in Fig. l, and this slot opens into the guide opening 38 and recess 28. The lugs l5 and l1 have aligned vertical bores 5l and 52 formed therein through which a vertical bearing pivot 53 is inserted and fixed, and mounted on this pivot is the nut d5.

The nut l5 is made in the form of a bell crank, as shown in Fig. 2, with an inner arm 51 and an outer arm 58. The inner arm 51 has screw threads @il formed at its inner end edge, and these threads are of the V-shaped type so as to be complemental to the threads 39, and the arm 51 extends inwardly and rearwardly through slot d5 to the position indicated in Fig. 2 by solid lines, where its threads may cooperatively enigage the threads 39 of the screw element 4d.

To automatically retain the threads 69 of the nut l5 in cooperative engagement with the screw element, a torsion spring member 63 is disposed in surrounding relation to the pivot 53 between the upper face of the bell crank and the lug 45, and the connecting arms .53A and E3B of the spring are extended in opposite directions through a relatively wide groove 64 formed in the upper surface of the arm 51. The arm 63A of the spring 53 extends forwardly and out of the groove 6d, and is arranged to act against the forward surface 50 of the body |53, while the arm 55B is bent downwardly over the rear edge of the arm 51, Figs. Zand 3, so that the spring 53 biases the nut l5 in a clockwise direction, Fig. 2, toward its operative relationship with respect to the screw element dil. cooperative engagement with the screw member sill, the operator need only pull forwardly on the rear surface 55 of the outer arm 58' of the nut 45. The leverage thus exerted disengages the nut 45 from the screw member di) and pivots the nut into the inactive position indicated in dotted outline in Fig. 2. Immediately upon disengagement of the nut the movable jaw 35 is shifted forwardly toward its open positionby spring means acting between the body i3 and the movable element 35. In the present case such spring .action is afforded by an expansive coil spring 38', Fig. l, that surrounds the lower guide rod 32 between members i3 and Y31. To limit this movement a iiange 53 is aiiixed to the rear end 1li of screw member iii so as to prevent further movement when it has reached the forward surf-ace 1| of the recess 28.

In the use of the vise -of the present invention. the movable jaw .35 may be readily shifted to its open position merely b-y momentary release of the nut '45, and this may be accomplished 'by pulling forwardly on the laterally projecting arm 58 of the nut. Thevmovable jaw 35 thereupon shifts to its open position under the acti'onof' To release the nut d5 from` the spring 68, after which the armv 58 'may be released so as to enable the nut 45`to be returned to its active position of Fig. 2 by the spring 63. The operator may then place the Work W between the jaws 26 and 36, and while supporting the Work in this relation, the movable jaw 3B is pressed rearwardly and into abutment with the work. This preliminary adjusting action is rendered possible by the location of the point of engagement of the threads 39 of the screw with the threads 60 of the nut 45, this point being substantially rearwardly'of the pivoted axis of the nut 45. The inter-action of these threads in this operation is such as to rock the nut 45 in a counterclockwise direction, thereb-y to shift the threads 60 of the nut out of engagement with respect to the screw 40, and hence the screw 40 and the movable jaw 36 may be shifted in a clamping direction without rotation of thescrew.

After the preliminary tightening or closing of the jaws has been thus accomplished, the iinal tightening operation is performed by rotation of the screw lill, and in this connection it should be observed that the torsion spring 63 constantly urges the nut 45 toward its active position so that such final tightening operation may be started immediately upon completion of the preliminary closing movement of the jaws. Hence, upon rotation of the screw 49 in a tightening direction, the threads 39 tend to draw the end of the arm 51 of the nut in a forward or clockwise direction, and the threads 60, by reason of the location of the pivot 53, are drawn tightly into engagement with the threads 39. The forces acting between the threads 39 and 6l) are directed generally forwardly and along the longitudinal axis of the arm 51 toward the pivot 53, and hence the rotative motion of the screwI 4D is effective to impart iinal clamping movement to the jaw 36.

When the work W is to be released, it is only necessary to reversely rotate the screw 40 in an amount suiiicient to relieve the stresses between the threads 39 and 69, and the arm 58 of the nut may then be drawn forwardly as hereinbefore described to effect release and complete opening of the movable .iaw 36.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that the present invention enables a vise to be readily and easily clamped and unclamped even though successive work pieces may vary considerably in size. Moreover, the arrangement is such that the jaws may be quickly released in a convenient and practical manner when it is desired to fully open the clamping jaws. The construction aiforded by the present invention is simple and rugged in character, and thus enables an efficient and advantageous vise to be produced in an economic manner.

Thus, while I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that this is capable of variation and modification and I therefore do not wish' to be limited to the precise details set forth, but desire to avail myself of such changes and alterations as fall within the purview of the fo1lowing claims:

I claim:

l. In a vise, a body having clamping means thereon for securing the body in a stationary relationship on a support, a stationary jaw on said body, a movable jaw mounted on said body for generally rectilinear movement in a rearward clamping direction toward said stationary jaw and in a forward releasing direction away from said stationary jaw, spring means normally urging said movable jaw in a releasing direction, said movable jaw, a pair of spaced lugs on said body and extended outwardly therefrom above and below said slotl and means affording a releasable nut for cooperation with said screw and comprising a bell crank having two arms, means pivoting said bell crank on a vertical yaxis between said, lugs so that a first arm extends rearwardly and laterally through said slot, while the second of said arms extends outwardly and rearwardly beyond said lugs to afford a manually engageable operating arm, said first one of said arms having screw threads formed on the end thereof for operative engagement with said screw, and spring means acting on said bell crank to rook the same in a direction to normally engage said screw threads With said screw.

2. In a vise, a body having clamping means thereon for securing the body in a stationary relationship on a support, sai-d body having a plurality of parallel guide passages formed therethrough, a stationary jaw on said body, a movable jaw having a pair of spaced guide rods rigidly secured thereto in parallel relation and slidably extended into certain of said guide passages to support said movable jaw on said body for rectilinear movement in a rearward clamping direction toward said stationary jaw and in a forward releasing direction away from said stationary jaw, expansive coil spring means surrounding at least one of said guide rods and normally urging said movable jaw in a releasing direction, an operating screw slidably disposed in and guided by another of said guide passages and operatively associated at its forward end with said movable jaw for rotative but against axial movement with respect to said movable jaw, said body having a horizontal slot formed in one side thereof and opening into said last-mentioned guide passage, and means affording a releasable nut for cooperation with said screw and comprising a bell crank having two arms, means pivoting said bell crank on a vertical axis so that a iirst arm extends rearwardly and laterally through said slot, while the other of said arms extends outwardly and rearwardly to afford a manually engageable operating arm for imparting a releasing movement to said bell crank in one direction, said first one of said arms having screw threads formed on the end thereof for operative engagement with the said screw, and spring means acting on said bell crank to rock the same in the other direction to normally engage said screw threads with said screw.

3. In a vise, a body h'aving clamping means thereon for securing the body in a stationary relationship on a support, a stationary jaw on said body, a movable jaw mounted on said body for generally rectilinear movement in a rearward clamping direction toward said stationary jaw and in a forward releasing direction away from said stationary jaw, spring means normally urging said movable jaw in a releasing direction, said body having a horizontal guide passage formed therein and a horizontal slot formed in one side thereof and opening into said guide passage, an operating screw slidably disposed in and guided by said guide passage and operatively associated at its forward end with said movable jaw for rotative but against axial movement with respect to said movable jaw, ra pair of spaced lugs on said body and extended outwardly therefrom above and below saidl slot, and means affording a releasable nut for cooperation with said screw and comprising a bell crank having two arms, means pivoting said bell crank for movement in either screw engaging or screw disengaging directions on a vertical axis between said lugs and in a horizontal plane so that a iirst arm extends rearwardly and laterally through said slot, while the second of said arms extends outwardly and rearwardly beyond said lugs to aord a manually operating arm, said rst one of said arms having screw threads formed on the end thereof for operative engagement with said screw, spring means acting on said arm to rock the same in said screw engaging direction, said screw threadshaving inclinations complementary to those of said operating member for cooperating with the screw disengaging movement of said bell crank to permit a backward sliding movement of the operating member and movable jaw.

4. In a vise, a body having clamping means thereon for securing the body in a stationary relationship on a support, a stationary jaw on said body, a movable jaw mounted on said body for generally rectilinear movement in a rearward clamping direction toward said stationary jaw, spring means normally urging said movable jaw in a releasing direction, said body having a horizontal guide passage formed therein and a hori" zontal slot formed in that side wall thereof 'that constitutes the left side wall to an operator fac ing toward the front ofthe vise, said slot beingr located near the front of said side wall and oper ing into said guide passage, an operating screw slidably -disposed in and guided by said guide pasn sage and operatively associated at its forward end ywith said movable jaw for rotative but against axial movement with respect to said movable jaw,

a pair of spaced lugs on said body and extended outwardly therefrom above and below said slot, and means affording a releasable nut for cooperation with said screw and comprising a bell crank having two arms, means pivoting said bell crank on a vertical axis between said lugs so that a first arm extends rearwardly and laterally through said slot, while the second of said arms extends outwardly and rearwardly beyond said lugs to afford a manually engageable operating arm, said first one of said arms having screw threads formed on the end thereof for operative engagement with said screw, spring means acting on said arm to rock the same in said screw engaging direction, and said screw threads having inclinations complementary .to those of said op erating member for cooperating with the screw disengaging movement of said bell crank to permit a backward sliding movement of the operating member and movable jaw.

ANTHONY 1W.A SASGEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 499,494 Ayars June 13, 1893 901,151 Casey Oct. 13, 1903 1,096,663 Archey May 12, 1914 1,243,118 Trivigino Oct. 16, 1917 1,720,464 Brink July 9, 1929 1,999,600 Stowell Apr. 39, 1935 2,331,831 Gordon Oct. 12, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date '78,501 Switzerland Dec. 16, 1918 678,319 Germany July 13, 1939 

